Burning Rubbish In Orchards Useless For Curculio Control

Peach growers now can skip the job of burning rubbish in their orchards in the winter to get rid of adult beetles of the troublesome plum durc-lite, says M. L. Bobb, an investigist at the Piedmont Field Laboratory at Charlettsville.

The beetles, responsible for heavy losses to peach growers, spend the winter in the ground, not merely under trash and rubbish near the orchard as heretofore believed.

The beetles leave the ground only when the oil temperature at three inches has reached 60 degrees F. In red clay soil they usually are found in the second or third inch layer of soil; but in sand soil they are occasionally found more than six inches deep. In another phase of their work, Bobb studied sprays for the control of adult beetles and larvae in the first. He reports that benzene hexachloride (BHC), chloridate, and pyrethrin-give excellent kill of adult beetles and also kill most of the young larvae. BHC is recommended in early sprays, but cannot be used after the shark-fall because of the off-flavor it gives to the fruit. Chloridate is too expensive for general use, but is recommended for very heavy infestations.

He believes that thousands of dollars have been lost annually because of plum rugculio injury now will be saved by the use of the new insecticides.